Sadio Mane must be better against Colombia – Senegal coach

by Graeme Jackson

Wednesday Jun 27, 2018. 09:00

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse says star player Sadio Mane needs to be better in the team’s decisive 2018 World Cup Group H match against Colombia on Thursday.

Mane picked up the man of the match award for the Teranga Lions’ 2-2 draw with Japan on Sunday, but the result has left the pool wide open.

Senegal twice led but were pegged back each time by their Japanese counterparts, with Keisuke Honda scoring an equaliser 12 minutes from time to snatch a point.

The West Africans will need to avoid defeat against Colombia in Samara if they are to guarantee a place in the next round.

This has left Cisse calling on his players to lift their game for the clash against the South Americans.

“A player like Sadio Mane is a player with a lot of expectations and he is one of the players under the spotlight,” Cisse said in the wake of the draw with the ‘Samurai Blue’.

“He can do better, but today he was better than against Poland and he needs to do better against Colombia.

“Of course we have regrets but we did not see a great Senegal team tonight compared to the previous match against Poland [a 2-1 victory]. Frankly, we were not very good.”

The Senegal v Colombia match is set for the Cosmos Arena in Samara on Thursday afternoon, kick-off at 16h00 CAT.